The guesthouse is located in Penthakata area on the outskirts of Odisha’s holy pilgrim city of Puri.

According to the hotel stafff, on Friday night Julian had gone to bed after taking his dinner. In the late night hours, the hotel staff found smoke emanating from Julian’s room but could not enter into the room as it was locked from inside.

On seeing smoke billowing from the room locked from inside, the hotel staff had called in the police. Police from the Sea Beach police station reached the spot and broke open the door and found Julian's charred body.

Julian’s body had over 50 percent burn injuries. His bed and mattress were found burnt.

The death of the German national could be a pre-planned murder or an accident. Police suspect the fire may have started from the butt of a lighted cigarette. The exact cause of the death would be known after the post-mortem examination, police said.

Painkillers, sedatives, injections and cigarettes were found in the room. Since sedatives were found in the room, police believe that he must have been in deep sleep and the fire might have started from a cigarette butt. They say a prescription found in the room indicates that he was under treatment too. Further investigation is on.

Julian had arrived in Puri on March 31 and had a tourist visa. He had arrived in Delhi from Germany on December 9 from where he had travelled south.

Julian's body has been sent to the morgue at the Puri district headquarters hospital for post-mortem examination. The German embassy has been informed about the incident. His family could not be contacted for want of sufficient records.